3850 Grafts @ HLC Ankara

[JacobN]

Hello guys, 

i want to share the experience of my Hair transplant at HLC in Ankara. The operation was in July 2020, when the pandemic situation was under better control. 

11th july - 13th july 2020

grafts: 3850

density: front 50, mid 30 grafts /cm2

doctor: dr. Elif 

medication 1mg finasteride since July 2020

age: 22. 

you find my pictures attached below. Right now I am in month 4 post OP. The pictures have been taken from the status before the HT until today chronologically. The crown area will be done in another session. 
 

please let me know your thoughts. How many grafts have already grown? How many percent%? 
is it normal that it is still a bit red?

Edited November 22, 2020 by JacobN
Density

[PizzaWolf]

You're 22? Did HLC give you some kind of game plan for the future?

[JacobN]

7 minutes ago, PizzaWolf said:

You're 22? Did HLC give you some kind of game plan for the future?

As you can see I have already lost a lot of my hair so no need to wait. Also I take medication (Finasteride)

[PizzaWolf]

Just now, JacobN said:

As you can see I have already lost a lot of my hair so no need to wait. Also I take medication (Finasteride)

There was plenty of reason to wait, but what's done is done.

I was just wondering if HLC offered you some kind of strategy for the future. Did they give you an estimate of total donor capacity?

[JacobN]

Just now, PizzaWolf said:

There was plenty of reason to wait, but what's done is done.

I was just wondering if HLC offered you some kind of strategy for the future. Did they give you an estimate of total donor capacity?

Tell me one reason, please. I need one more session for the crown, then my head is full of only new hair. So that’s the plan 

[PizzaWolf]

I wasn't trying to come off as an ass or make you nervous.

It's just that 22 is very young and you weren't given any time to see how you respond to Finasteride before having surgery.

I was hoping that HLC gave you real numbers for coverage+a long term plan with donor numbers, etc., should you lose more hair.

[Abi28]

For 4 months post op this looks promising, donor looks great also. Redness can take a long time for guys with pale skin.

I think around the 6 months is when you will notice a big difference, grow your hair longer and update us in 2 months.

[MachoVato]

Yeah, finasteride won't help the hair that's already gone. But I think what PizzaWolf is concerned about is the future of your native hair. For example, if your family has a history of going all the way bald, your donor area isn't very "safe", and therefore likely to fall out. Finasteride is part of the plan to keep those new grafts viable.

 

[JacobN]

9 minutes ago, PizzaWolf said:

I wasn't trying to come off as an ass or make you nervous.

It's just that 22 is very young and you weren't given any time to see how you respond to Finasteride before having surgery.

I was hoping that HLC gave you real numbers for coverage+a long term plan with donor numbers, etc., should you lose more hair.

Don’t worry, I didn’t get your answer wrong, I am happy for every opinion. I know exactly what you mean but for me the thing is: I am young NOW. I felt so depressed with the status pre operation so I felt I had to take this step. finasteride fortunately is working very good - I even recovered hair at the crown area and I thickens much more. Donor management has been made and they said that about 9000 grafts can be taken (good donor with mostly 3 hair grafts). So i have 5000 or so left. 💪🏼😌

[JacobN]

1 minute ago, MachoVato said:

Yeah, finasteride won't help the hair that's already gone. But I think what PizzaWolf is concerned about is the future of your native hair. For example, if your family has a history of going all the way bald, your donor area isn't very "safe", and therefore likely to fall out. Finasteride is part of the plan to keep those new grafts viable.

 

My mom‘s side family has dense hair. My dad is 60 years old and has the same status as I had pre OP. I know that this is was risky and the hair at the sides could fall. But that’s why I take fin and it works. No side effects 

[JacobN]

15 minutes ago, PizzaWolf said:

I wasn't trying to come off as an ass or make you nervous.

It's just that 22 is very young and you weren't given any time to see how you respond to Finasteride before having surgery.

I was hoping that HLC gave you real numbers for coverage+a long term plan with donor numbers, etc., should you lose more hair.

What do you mean by „real numbers“?

[PizzaWolf]

4 minutes ago, JacobN said:

Don’t worry, I didn’t get your answer wrong, I am happy for every opinion. I know exactly what you mean but for me the thing is: I am young NOW. I felt so depressed with the status pre operation so I felt I had to take this step. finasteride fortunately is working very good - I even recovered hair at the crown area and I thickens much more. Donor management has been made and they said that about 9000 grafts can be taken (good donor with mostly 3 hair grafts). So i have 5000 or so left. 💪🏼😌

Then I would say everything looks on track, and I believe that HLC does good work, some of the most aesthetically pleasing I've seen.

My issue with HLC is that I think their customer service and follow up stink.

I was hoping they had mapped out your donor area and recipient area to give you real numbers for long-term coverage. Maybe you could ask them for some kind of report?

[JacobN]

1 minute ago, PizzaWolf said:

Then I would say everything looks on track, and I believe that HLC does good work, some of the most aesthetically pleasing I've seen.

My issue with HLC is that I think their customer service and follow up stink.

I was hoping they had mapped out your donor area and recipient area to give you real numbers for long-term coverage. Maybe you could ask them for some kind of report?

The customer Service is OK imo. There is a guy, Engin, who contacts me sometimes and asks if everything is alright but I know what you mean. The guy at HLC I contacted first was a bit ...short in his messages. But friendly too. 
Yes they mapped my donor and as mentioned, they calculated 5000 grafts remaining. In the pics above there is one picture which shows the mapping. I was afraid you would mean that this is not 50 grafts density. But it should be, right? It looks so dense right after post op

[PizzaWolf]

13 minutes ago, JacobN said:

The customer Service is OK imo. There is a guy, Engin, who contacts me sometimes and asks if everything is alright but I know what you mean. The guy at HLC I contacted first was a bit ...short in his messages. But friendly too. 
Yes they mapped my donor and as mentioned, they calculated 5000 grafts remaining. In the pics above there is one picture which shows the mapping. I was afraid you would mean that this is not 50 grafts density. But it should be, right? It looks so dense right after post op

It's still early in the process, but it looks good to me.

[T95good]

Any pre-op pics of the sides? 

Also HLC was a great choice, I am scheduled there Dec 14-15th. You're recipient and donor look great so far.

[PizzaWolf]

Actually, I must have skipped over the pre-op photo with the measurements written on your head. It looks like they were shooting for 55 hairs per square cm in your front, and maybe 30 for your crown in the next procedure?

[JacobN]

2 minutes ago, T95good said:

Any pre-op pics of the sides? 

Also HLC was a great choice, I am scheduled there Dec 14-15th. You're recipient and donor look great so far.

Unfortunately these 20 pictures are the only ones on my new phone, I don’t have other ones, I’m sorry. Have a nice stay at HLC and please, if you remember it then, could you greet Engin from me, Jacob? That would be so nice!!

[JacobN]

1 minute ago, PizzaWolf said:

Actually, I must have skipped over the pre-op photo with the measurements written on your head. It looks like they were shooting for 55 hairs per square cm in your front, and maybe 30 for your crown in the next procedure?

55 is the cm2 area. They transplanted with 50 density = around 2700 grafts. Yes, 30 grafts per cm2 for the crown will be transplanted in March next year  so around 2000 then. I should be fine for a long long time then.

[PizzaWolf]

OK. With Finasteride it looks like a solid plan to me. Hopefully you'll never have to worry about your hair again.

Where did you fly to Turkey from?

[JacobN]

1 minute ago, PizzaWolf said:

OK. With Finasteride it looks like a solid plan to me. Hopefully you'll never have to worry about your hair again.

Where did you fly to Turkey from?

Thanks a lot, these warm words mean much to me! I hope so, too! 
I come from Germany, I took a direct flight.

[Britanium]

Very nice indeed. Hairline isn’t too aggressive. Happy continued growth 👌

[JayLDD]

1 hour ago, JacobN said:

Don’t worry, I didn’t get your answer wrong, I am happy for every opinion. I know exactly what you mean but for me the thing is: I am young NOW. I felt so depressed with the status pre operation so I felt I had to take this step. finasteride fortunately is working very good - I even recovered hair at the crown area and I thickens much more. Donor management has been made and they said that about 9000 grafts can be taken (good donor with mostly 3 hair grafts). So i have 5000 or so left. 💪🏼😌

You did the right thing, picked a very good clinic and the hairline is appropriately conservative. The redness is nothing to worry about nor unexpected with your skin tone, and things look pretty solid for 4 months. 

I'd recommend ignoring those who bring up age when they have no logical, or academically justified reason to differentiate someone your age with that level of loss and someone who is 30 when at the end of the day they're just thoughtlessly regurgitating a common opinion without a basis behind it. Whether or not you're 20 or 35 your final hairloss pattern is genetically predetermined and visible when you've lost as much hair as yourself.  If things grow well and currently it appears they will, I'm sure you'd be happier with a conservative hairline and midscalp in your early 20s while dealing with a thinner crown in the future than waiting till you're 30 to address the issue for arbitrary reasons.

In saying that, I doubt you'll manage a full 9k grafts via FUE, I'd put the number much closer to 7k before it starts to clearly show depletion. Donor hair naturally thins for all men over time also. Potentially you can do FUT beyond those numbers but I'd consider that if you want full coverage in the long run it will dent your ability to have super short hair in your donor area.

[PizzaWolf]

@JayLDD

I adjusted my opinion after hearing his entire rationale, two surgeries, etc.

That being said, brotha you can lie to yourself all you want, age is a HUGE effin' issue for long-term aesthetically pleasing results.

[WildBlueberry]

Hi @JacobN do you have pictures of your donor as it is now?

[Gatsby]

JacobN that appears to date to be good work carried out and the hairline is not a juvenile one. However it blows my mind that even despite your level of hair loss and not having stabalised your hair loss, that this clinic was happy to perform life altering surgery on a 22 year old. Did they ask you to wait, trial finasteride for a year?